If you have plans for this Monday, May 9 you are already canceling them.
Well, okay, maybe you’re exaggerating. You can keep your plans, but if I were you I would also put this on the agenda, since we will not be able to see it again until 2019 and it is true that it is a little time; but why wait?
I’m talking about the Mercury transit ahead of the Sun, a curious astronomical event that takes place on first days of may or november of some years. If you are interested in seeing it in this article, we will tell you everything about it.
What is the Mercury transit?
As you know, the two known planets between Earth and the Sun are Venus and Mercury. Each of them remains spinning in their own orbit; but, from time to time, they are located just between us and the star King, promoting that we can see them in the form of a small black point located above it.
In the case of Venus we can only see thirteen of these transits in a century, but because Mercury’s orbit is smaller and it rotates much faster, its walks in front of our planet are quite more frequent. In fact, the previous one took place in 2013 and in 2019 We can see the next one that will take place this Monday.
How can we visualize the transit of Mercury?
We can view it from all Spain and, in addition, they will also have the possibility to see it from the rest of western Europe, western africa and eastern america.
Specifically in the center of SpainMercury begins to enter the solar disk on the 13:12 and increase its visibility until 16:57, when will the closer approach between the planet and the Sun. Finally, at 20:42 The visualization of the traffic will be terminated and the countdown will begin to be seen again in 2019.
If you have already listed it on the agenda and you want to see it, you should take into account a few tips.
First of all, NEVER miris directly to the sunnot even to naked eyeso much less with telescopes or binoculars. The apparent diameter of Mercury is approximately 160 times smaller than that of the Sun, so you will need to use one of these magnifying devices that, of course, will have to be equipped with filters so that we continue to have sight when the following phenomenon occurs.
If you don’t have the necessary equipment or are so busy that you literally won’t be able to see the sunlight, don’t worry. NASA broadcast the event live and you could see it just by turning on the computer, but it must also be recognized that it thus loses a little grace.
What other planets can we see this month?
If you are more of Mars than of Mercury for the little things of life, you are also in luck, since the Red planet can be seen during every night of the month, especially at night from 21 to 22, when he will show us his face fully illuminated by the Sun. This, together with the fact that that same night they can also be seen Jpiter and Saturn and what will the full moon known as Flower moon, will make it a night worth watching. And be Saturday! Who wants to go clubbing on a Saturday night and be able to observe the majesty of these stars above our heads? There is no color
